


Of Dwarves and Detectives - Chapter Four

by thedramaticllama



Series: Of Dwarves and Detectives [4]
Category: BBC Sherlock, Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Crossover, Fandom crossover, M/M, The Hobbit/Sherlock, hobbit crossover, sherlock crossover, sherlock/the hobbit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-10
Packaged: 2018-05-01 01:24:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5186909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedramaticllama/pseuds/thedramaticllama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock is coming.<br/>Bilbo had wished for years that this might be the case, but since Thorin Oakenshield took up courtship with the London ex-soldier, will a potential reunion between the crime-solving lovers of old be everything Bilbo Baggins has dreamed it might be? Turmoil, uncertainty and fear plague the Company's Burglar, but will they notice this when disaster strikes the Dwarves?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Dwarves and Detectives - Chapter Four

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a long time coming, but here at last of the latest instalment of 'Of Dwarves and Detectives'!  
> Ok, it's shorter than I might've liked, but chapter five is already being written, and there's plenty of drama to unfold!  
> But anyway, thank you all so much, you've waited patiently and given my series infinitely more support than I ever dreamed it would get. Thank you all so, so much!  
> :3  
> \- Hazel

Chapter Four

"Bilbo, are you still in there?"  
Bilbo sighed from inside his tent.   
"Yes Thorin. Still here and still reading."  
At this rate, he was never going to finish 'Pride and Prejudice'. When Thorin wasn't checking on Bilbo, it was Dwalin, or Fíli or Kíli or someone else Thorin had sent. It had been almost a week since the incident with Ori, but the suspicions of the Dwarves were only worsening. There was barely a second of the day when Bilbo could not see at least one of the Dwarves glancing around, looking as though they expected someone to jump out. When Thorin and Bilbo went on their evening or morning walks away from wherever they had set up camp, the Dwarf-King always held a suspicious dominance, like he dared someone to emerge from the shadows and challenge him. Although Bilbo never heard the Company discuss the reason they were all so on guard, he knew it was because of the attack on Ori.  
"May I speak with you, Bilbo?" Thorin asked. Bilbo laughed quietly, he had quite forgotten that his lover was still outside the tent.   
"Coming."

Thorin beamed as he looked upon Bilbo's face. Slipping a large, rough hand into Bilbo's, he helped him out of the tent, and led him towards where the Dwarves had set and lit a fire. They joined the rest of the Company, who were sat on logs in a circle around the soft flames looking anxious.   
"Bilbo," said Thorin softly, "We understand that you have had concerns for your safety since the... Incident with Ori. And whilst we recognise that you've tried to keep it to yourself, we have all noticed you're acting strange."  
"Strange?" Bilbo repeated.   
"Oh yes," Bofur chipped in from across the circle, "You're constantly fiddling and fussing and mumbling.  
"Mumbling!" Bilbo said, barely concealing a gasp, "Really? What- what have I been mumbling, exactly?"  
"We can never tell, you're too quiet, and cut yourself off before we can pick up on anything." said Bofur.   
"Don't take offence, Laddie." said Balin, "No-one's angry at you for being afraid."  
"I- I'm not-" Bilbo stopped himself before he finished that thought.  
"Like I've said before," Fíli said, standing up, "We are all fighters. Many of us here have seen battle, and can handle more than a few Elves who think they've got the right to interfere where they aren't wanted. If whoever attacked one of us ever shows their face again, we'll beat them all the way back to the First Age. Won't we?"  
There was an uproar of supporting cries, at which point Bilbo noticed that Kíli sat with his head bowed next to his brother, looking almost ashamed that he too could not deliver such a rousing speech to his peers.  
"But Bilbo," said Thorin when the noise had subsided, "You have no reason to be concerned. If anyone tries to harm you, or any of us, consider them dead and decapitated before they've even raised their sword."  
Bilbo gulped, feeling his blood chill at what was clearly intended to be a comforting thought.  
"Thank you, Thorin," said Bilbo, hastily getting up, "Thank you all very, very much. You have all been a great help, I'm glad we had this little talk. Very comforting. However, I must be going. I have things to do- things to... read."  
Before any of them could object, Bilbo hurried back to his tent and dived inside, zipping it shut behind him.

"Bilbo Baggins, how on Earth did you land yourself in this mess?" he asked himself, talking into his pillow. With a groan, he rolled over and stared at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. Bilbo stared with a blank mind for some time, void of all thought and emotion, until a tear sprung up in the corner of his eye. Blinking it out, he became aware of the Dwarves arguing a short distance away. Bilbo could not - or did not attempt to - decipher any particular words or phrases from the thick mixture of voices, and turned his face away to bury it in his old army jacket. From there, Bilbo did something he had not done in a long time: he allowed himself to hide his heart in the cage of his ribs, safe from influence, and to curl in on himself. He felt so small and insignificant a soul trapped within his apparently important body. Most unbecoming of a decorated Captain, Bilbo thought, and suddenly felt highly unworthy of the jacket his hot, clammy breath made uncomfortably warm, resurrecting old memories of painful days he had tried to forget. For so many nights Bilbo had wished beyond all hope that Sherlock could somehow return to life, and now that the prospect was very real he was not sure what to think. He had sworn to always love the consulting detective, but after years of loneliness rationality took over and he had convinced himself to move on. But now... Now Bilbo did not know what to think. He had to speak with Thorin. Thorin his rock, his saviour, his everything. Hopefully he could make him understand. Understand what though? For Bilbo himself did not understand. Should he warn the Dwarves? What would they do, and what would Sherlock do? A nauseating feeling told Bilbo that he may find out sooner than expected. Overwhelmed and with a lot to consider, Bilbo decided he needed some fresh air would do him well. He sat up (realising he had been lain down for quite a while, owing to the ache in his lower back), and wiped away a solitary tear he had not noticed slipping down his face, and unzipped the tent door, hoping to sneak by the Dwarves without them noticing.

The Dwarves, so wrapped up in whatever they were fighting about, did not see Bilbo, until he had almost reached the tree line a short distance away from the camp, at which point Thorin saw him and shouted.  
"I'm just nipping out. I have to be alone." Bilbo said when the king asked where he was going.  
"Bilbo, explain yourself. Why do you wander off alone?" said Thorin, walking over to him.  
"No reason." he mumbled.  
"Of course there's a reason." cried Dwalin, "What is it?"  
"If you must know," said Bilbo, eyes darting between all the Dwarves staring at him, "I- I have to... Pee."  
There. Surely that would put them off.  
"If you are travelling far into the woods, someone must go with you." Thorin declared.  
"What? No, absolutely not." said Bilbo.   
"For your own safety, Bilbo." he said.   
"No. Just this once Thorin, I must go against what you say. Trust me?"  
Thorin opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it, shaking his head.  
"I'll be perfectly fine, Thorin." said Bilbo, "You know what I'm like for adventures, I see a great forest, I just have to find all the best trees to have a wee on."  
Bilbo noticed the corners of Thorin's mouth twitch into a brief smirk.  
"Very well then, Burglar." he said in a quieter voice, "I may live to regret this... If you are more than an hour we'll come looking for you. That should give you enough time for whatever it is you must ponder."  
"I- what makes you think-?"  
"I dare say I know you better than that, Master Baggins. Take care, that is all I ask."  
Both looked as though they had something more to say, but as neither questioned the other Bilbo turned his back on Thorin and proceeded beyond the treeline and out of sight.

"You're letting him go?" said Nori.  
"He'll come back. I trust Bilbo, and so should you."  
"Thorin, that was less than wise." said Balin, "You know well there are strange folk after us, if they are folk at all. It is unsafe, especially for him."  
"He was a soldier in his homeland, and a bold one, he can look out for himself. Such a spirit cannot be confined to within the boundaries of a few yards." said Thorin.  
Dwalin sighed.  
"Whatever goes through your head, my kin, the rest of us sure cannot make sense of it." he said, "But I know you do not take our safety lightly, so I put my faith in you, Thorin."  
"But back to the issue at hand," said Thorin, striding back towards the fire, commanding the attention of his peers, "Where the Hell is my nephew?"

Bilbo was preoccupied as he walked, the forest air breathing some perspective into his thoughts. He considered the same things as he had in the tent, still coming to no conclusions, but certainly with a clearer mind. Had he been paying attention to his surroundings, Bilbo may have noticed certain things. He may have noticed the glorious June evening it was, the quaintness of the glade alive with the buzzing of insects and the choruses of many birds. The dappled sunlight through the leaves that formed a canopy above him caused pools of gold on the earth, all of which created a rather pleasant scene. He may also have noticed that he had wandered further than he had intended, and should perhaps have considered how and when he would return to the Company. The third thing Bilbo failed to notice (terrible really, as a soldier should be on guard at all times, surely), was someone close by, quite intently noticing him. The one thing that stopped his mind from drifting, eventually, was the crying of his name, faint through the trees, yet unmistakably Thorin. His voice was joined by the those of several other Dwarves, each as loud, hoarse and desperate at the next. Bilbo turned and broke off at a run in the general direction of the camp, which meant he failed to notice the figure watching him as they silently stepped out into the open.

"What is it?" gasped Bilbo as he burst through the trees. The next thing he knew was that Thorin had grabbed him into a bone-crushing hug.  
"Bilbo Baggins, you had me terrified. Never do that to me again." he growled into Bilbo's soft honey coloured hair.  
"I came as fast as I could."  
"I know Bilbo, I know. It isn't your fault."  
Thorin let go and held him at arm's length,  
"Kíli's been taken."


End file.
